Solar installer accreditation and licensing in WA: what to check before you sign

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current licensing and accreditation requirements directly with the Clean Energy Council or a qualified professional before signing a contract.

Solar installation in WA sits at the intersection of electrical work and a government rebate scheme, which means there are two separate things to check before you sign anything: whether the person doing the work is legally qualified, and whether the company is accredited to claim the rebate on your behalf.

Two different credentials

A general electrical licence allows someone to legally do electrical work in WA. It doesn’t, on its own, cover the specific design and installation standards required for a grid-connected solar system to be eligible for Small-scale Technology Certificates. That separate accreditation comes through the Clean Energy Council, and only installers holding it can sign off on a system claiming the rebate.

In practice, this means it’s possible for a company to be a licensed electrical business but not accredited for solar, or to have some accredited staff and some who aren’t. It’s worth confirming which specific person will be signing off on your job, not just whether the business as a whole is generally reputable.

How to actually check

The Clean Energy Council maintains a public register of accredited individuals and approved products. Rather than trusting a badge or logo on a website, ask for the installer’s accreditation number directly and check it yourself. It takes a few minutes and removes any ambiguity.

What to check	Where to check it
Installer’s individual CEC accreditation	CEC public installer register
Whether the equipment is CEC-approved	CEC approved product list
Business’s general electrical licence	WA licensing authority for electrical contractors
Any past complaints or disciplinary action	Public record checks, plus reviews across multiple sources

Accreditation and product warranties

Some equipment manufacturers also tie their own product warranty to installation by an accredited installer, separate from the STC eligibility question entirely. This means a non-accredited install could, in theory, put both the government rebate and the manufacturer’s panel or inverter warranty at risk at the same time. Ask your supplier directly whether the manufacturer’s warranty terms specify any installer accreditation requirement, since this detail is easy to miss in a sales conversation focused on price.

Salespeople versus installers

Understand who you’re actually talking to during the quote process. Larger solar companies often use dedicated sales staff who aren’t themselves accredited installers, they’re there to sell and design the system on paper, with an accredited installer or crew doing the physical work separately. This is normal industry practice and not a red flag by itself, but it does mean the person quoting you isn’t necessarily the one you should ask detailed technical accreditation questions of. Ask specifically who will be on the roof, and confirm that person or their supervising installer holds the relevant accreditation.

Why this affects more than the paperwork

If a system is installed by someone without the right accreditation, the most immediate risk is losing the upfront rebate discount, which can be a meaningful chunk of the total price. There’s a second, quieter risk too: accreditation requirements exist partly because they set a minimum design and safety standard, so skipping that check can mean skipping a genuine quality filter, not just a compliance formality. It also matters for who’s liable when a solar installation goes wrong, since accreditation status can shape where responsibility falls if something fails.

Red flags worth taking seriously

• A quote that doesn’t mention accreditation at all, or gets vague when you ask directly.
• Pressure to sign quickly before you’ve had time to verify credentials.
• A company using a well-known brand name loosely, without being able to show their own accreditation clearly.
• A door-to-door or cold-call offer that pushes for a same-day signature, which leaves no time to check anything properly.

None of these on their own automatically means a company is dishonest, but together they’re worth treating as a reason to slow down and verify before committing.

Checking accreditation is a five-minute step that can save a genuinely expensive mistake. We factor licensing and accreditation transparency into how we assess solar companies in Perth, and our methodology explains that process in more detail. You can browse the full ranked list from the homepage.